


Things I Can Depend On

by oriolegirl



Series: Major Lorne, Son of Captain Jack [1]
Category: Stargate Atlantis, Torchwood
Genre: Crossover, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-08-02
Updated: 2008-08-02
Packaged: 2017-10-02 17:46:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oriolegirl/pseuds/oriolegirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack Harkness has a son, who happens to work for the SGC...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things I Can Depend On

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for SGA "The Return" &amp; "Sunday" and TW "Exit Wounds"  
> And there's a companion fic, ["Things I Can Believe In"](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9036).

You always do the things I can depend on  
You're always there every night and day  
Everytime I've fallen down - You've always been around  
To lift me up again  
To set me straight again  
\- Bryan Adams, "Broken Wings"

  


Major Evan Lorne was angry and numb and a little bit in denial. Stepping through the Stargate, he was almost instantly transported from Atlantis, the fabled lost city of the Ancients in the Pegasus Galaxy, to Stargate Command, deep beneath Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. At the bottom of the ramp, he turned back to watch Lt. Colonel Sheppard, Dr. Rodney McKay, and Dr. Carson Beckett walk through the 'gate. McKay's mouth was already going, hands flying a mile a minute, as he expressed his deep displeasure. Sheppard just looked grim.

Dr. Elizabeth Weir, the head of the Atlantis expedition, was just emerging from the wormhole when Evan heard the laugh. It was a very distinctive laugh, one he'd heard on and off throughout his life. Whirling around, he saw Captain Jack Harkness, sleeves rolled up and minus the customary World War II-era greatcoat, talking with General Landry. Jack had undoubtedly left his coat draped over the visitor's chair in Landry's office because he knew it annoyed him. Jack didn't like Landry and the feeling was mutual

"Jack?"

Evan could see Landry scowl when Jack stopped talking and turned around. Spotting Evan, Jack made his way over to him. "Evan," he said, opening his arms wide.

Evan gratefully leaned into the embrace, his arms coming around Jack and gripping the back of his shirt. He was beyond caring what anyone might think.

Jack finally pulled back and moved his hands up to cup Evan's face. "How are you?" he asked quietly.

What could he possibly say, standing as he was in the middle of the Gate Room at the SGC? _I'm pissed off that I was forced to leave my home and I want to go back?_ He was 34 years old, well past the age in which he expected to get everything he wanted and way past the age in which he expected his father to fix things.

Not to mention the fact that he was a Major in the United States Air Force and crossing his arms and stamping his foot was not acceptable behavior. No matter how much he might want to do just that. Instead, Evan closed his eyes.

"Yeah, ok," Jack said, clearly hearing everything that Evan couldn't say. Dropping his hands to Evan's shoulders, he said, "I'm going to be around another couple of days. When they cut you loose from this place, we'll have dinner, catch up."

Evan nodded. He hadn't seen Jack in a while and though they wrote often, it just wasn't the same as talking in person.

Jack slid his hands into his pockets. "Hey, kid, I'm glad the life-sucking alien vampires didn't get you."

Evan rolled his eyes. Considering Jack's reaction when Derek Stone had pushed him out of their treehouse in the sixth grade and he'd broken his leg, he knew it was the SGC and the Wraith who should be glad. Evan shuddered to think what would have happened to the Genii if Jack had been notified that he'd been declared dead before Atlantis had figured out that he was really still alive.

Jack laughed and turned back towards Landry. Evan had no idea why Jack was at the SGC, but then Jack had the uncanny ability of being present when Evan needed him the most. Just that brief exchange was enough to restore Evan's equilibrium.

After locating his scientist, Dr. David Parrish, in the milling crowd, Evan sought out Sheppard, ready to help direct people to where they needed to go.

~*~

 

Jack was surprised when Evan rang his mobile. For one thing, he was supposed to be in another galaxy. It was impossible to telephone from one galaxy to another - with current technology anyway. Jack knew Evan wasn't back on leave because he'd seen him in Colorado a couple of months before; besides, they always arranged those meetings in advance. So when Evan announced he was in Edinburgh, there really wasn't anything Jack could say except, "Edinburgh? What are you doing in Edinburgh?"

Evan was quiet long enough that Jack could tell he didn't want to talk about it. Jack knew there was something wrong - it was in Evan's silence and in his voice when he asked if he could come down to Cardiff for the day. Despite this, Jack was excited that Evan was coming because he'd never been to Cardiff. When Evan was a child, Jack always went to visit him in America. Evan's mother died when he was in high school and Jack asked him if he wanted to come live with him. Evan had asked, "Do you really want that? Truthfully." Jack had breathed a sigh of relief because, really, he hadn't known what he would do with him; Jack hadn't had proper living space even then. So Jack continued to go to America to see Evan and the pattern had held until now.

Jack was practically quivering with excitement the following morning. He was bounding up the stairs to the tourist information center as soon as Ianto radioed that Evan had arrived. "Evan!" Jack called, coming to a stop in front of him.

"You have a tourist office for a front?" Evan asked with a pale imitation of a smile.

"Hey, don't knock it," Jack replied, smiling. "It works." He put his hands on Evan's shoulders, studying his face, and frowned. "Is everything alright?"

Evan leaned forward, until his head rested against Jack's chest. "Not really."

Jack wrapped one arm around Evan's shoulders, pulling him closer, and held his head to him with the other, dropping a kiss into his hair. Things were so much easier when Evan was just a boy and could be distracted from most of his problems with a game, a toy, or ice cream. "Why were you in Edinburgh?"

Evan wrapped his arms around Jack's waist and held on tightly for a moment. Then he loosened his hold and barked out a laugh. "Exploding tumors."

Jack eased back so he could look at him. "Excuse me?"

"Exactly. It's all such a goddamned waste." He shook his head. "Fucking Ancients," he cursed under his breath.

Jack really hadn't had much experience with the Ancients or their technology, but he'd heard enough to know that they were rather arrogant and stupidly careless. He would not be at all surprised if whatever went wrong had resulted in needless death and destruction. This, he thought, probably called for alcohol. "Let's get out of here," he said. "Go somewhere we can talk."

He turned to the desk and found Ianto standing ready with his coat. Jack had yet to figure out just how he managed to do that. "Ianto, meet Evan. Evan, this is Ianto Jones. He keeps us running, makes the most magnificent cup of coffee in the world, and looks good in a suit."

"Careful, sir," Ianto said, tone even. "You're bordering on harassment again."

"It's not harassment when it's the truth," Jack replied, pointing at him. "And you know it."

Ianto simply smirked and held Jack's coat out.

Jack slipped into it and said, "Call me if the world is about to end."

"Of course, sir. But we will endeavor to prevent that from occurring until your friend has left town."

"That would be nice," Evan said, "but I'm sort of used to that happening."

Jack frowned. Evan usually wasn't that fatalistic and he wondered again just what had happened to make him sound like that. Jack knew that, much as he would like to, he couldn't magically fix whatever it was that had gone wrong but he would do whatever he could to make Evan feel better before he returned to Pegasus.

~*~

Evan looked forward to letters from Jack. When he was younger, they would be full of stories about places Jack had been and adventures he'd had (_Did I tell you about the time when...?_) As Evan got older, the stories became interspersed with Jack's musings on life - his own and life in general. By the time Evan entered college, the letters were full of current events and gossip about Jack's co-workers. Evan knew all about the various members of Jack's team even though he'd never met them, because Jack was nothing if not a gossip. Jack was quite adept at keeping secrets, especially about himself, but he loved to talk about other people.

Despite the fact that he was from a time so technologically advanced that Evan couldn't really comprehend it, Jack had a strange aversion to e-mail. Sure, he used it, but he hated to. Whenever Evan e-mailed him, Jack's response would almost invariably come in the form of paper and ink. It was just one of those strange contradictions that made Jack Jack.

Jack's letters always made Evan smile. David had noticed and asked about them but Evan had just shrugged and said, "They're from my father." David had accepted that. He was still curious, Evan knew, but David was a patient man (he was, after all, a botanist) and was obviously willing to wait until Evan was ready to tell him more.

When the Daedalus arrived, Evan wasn't surprised to get a letter from Cardiff. He was a bit surprised, though, when he didn't recognize the handwriting on the envelope. Jack had never gone more than a month without writing. He usually wrote more often, but there had been times when Evan got little more than a postcard with a couple of scrawled lines. He figured out, when he was older, that those were the times when Jack was involved in something (what, exactly, Jack couldn't or wouldn't say). Jack was quite capable of running into trouble without trying. But Jack had always managed to write no matter what he'd been up to and this time it had been almost six weeks.

Evan opened the envelope to find another inside, addressed to him in Jack's hand, along with a sheet of paper.

_I found this on Jack's desk with instructions to send it to you if he was missing for more than a month. - Ianto Jones_

Evan tore open the second envelope, hoping to find a good explanation for Jack's sudden silence.

_Hey, kid. If you're reading this, then I've probably found The Doctor and gone traveling with him again. Try not to worry too much. I'll let you know when I get back. - Jack_

There was another line scrawled at the bottom in different ink, obviously added at a later date. _If Ianto sent this to you, would you e-mail him and tell him I'm ok?_

Evan sent Ianto the obligatory e-mail knowing, despite having met him only briefly, that Ianto would worry anyway. Jack had that affect on people he cared about.

Evan spent the next few weeks with vague worry in the back of his mind. Sheppard looked at him speculatively a few times and even opened his mouth once or twice, but never actually said anything, just clasped his shoulder and walked away. Evan had learned this was Sheppard-speak for "I know something's wrong and I'm here if you want to talk about it though please god don't want to talk about it."

Jack would threaten and cajole and do everything in his power to get you to talk. Frankly, Evan was grateful for Sheppard's approach. He didn't want to talk about Jack, not least because as strange as things could be in the Pegasus galaxy, it was beyond strange explaining why your father looked like he could be your brother but was actually a couple of hundred years old.

He thought Jack would like Sheppard, if they ever really met. They were alike in a lot of ways. They could both be charming and talk without really saying anything. They had a highly developed sense of responsibility and were protective of their families, their teams. They didn't like to leave anyone behind.

Evan wasn't sure why Sheppard was so adamant about not leaving people behind. Sure, the American military was big on that, but it was somehow more with Sheppard. Evan sometimes wondered if Sheppard hadn't been left behind. Jack had been left, by The Doctor, no less. Evan understood, intellectually, why Jack had spent so long looking for him, but he still couldn't grasp that Jack had willingly gone traveling with The Doctor after what he'd done.

So Evan went about his life, slightly preoccupied, until the Daedalus arrived again bearing another letter from Cardiff. This time, the envelope bore Jack's handwriting. Evan sank onto his bed with a huge sigh, relieved that Jack was back home. Turning to David, who had been silently watching with concern and been touching him oh so carefully these last few weeks, he said, "Have I told you about Jack?"

 

~*~

Jack slid his key into the lock on the door of Ianto's flat, still ridiculously pleased that he had a key. Once inside, he carefully hung his coat on the hook by the door and headed for the kitchen. He stopped short in the doorway, not expecting to find Evan and Ianto sitting at the kitchen table.

Ianto looked shocked, which was also surprising. Not much shocked Ianto, or at least didn't shock him enough that he couldn't hide it behind the calm facade he generally present to the world. "What's going on?"

"I think I've rendered your boyfriend speechless." Evan looked up and met his gaze. "Dad."

"Oh." Jack really didn't know what to say to that and he looked between Evan and Ianto for some sign as to how to play this. Not finding any, he settled for the obvious. "You told him."

"Yeah." Evan gave him a half smile, something that was a mixture of amusement and mischief. Jack was somewhat afraid of that smile because it was one he often saw in the mirror. "It's the kind of thing your partner really ought to know."

Partner. That was something Jack hadn't really articulated, even to himself. But he supposed it was accurate, especially as it was obvious enough that Evan had picked up on it.

"You're ok with this?" Jack had been involved with lots of people, to one degree or another, but he hadn't had a serious relationship with anyone during Evan's lifetime and he was a little worried what he'd think.

Evan grinned. "He's a little young for you, but then everyone is a little young for you, Jack." Evan stood up. "He's got my seal of approval, for what that's worth."

"_He_ is sitting right here," Ianto snapped. Jack winced. Evan might be ok but Ianto was definitely mad at him.

"Thanks for the coffee, Ianto," Evan said. "I'll see you guys later."

Jack watched him walk out of the kitchen then turned his attention back to the man still sitting at the table. "Ianto, I--"

"Jack." Jack immediately shut up because he knew that tone of voice. "I need a few minutes. Go talk to your son."

Jack nodded and headed towards the front door, where he caught up with Evan and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Everything ok?" Evan asked

Jack shrugged. "He's working out just how mad he is at me."

Evan grimaced. "I didn't mean to make things difficult between you. It just seemed like Ianto had the wrong idea about our relationship." Evan paused before saying, "You love him, Jack, and I just want you to be happy."

Jack frowned. They sounded like they were in an afterschool special, except reversed. "Isn't that something I'm supposed to say to you?"

Evan laughed "I'm all grown up now."

"Yeah, you are, aren't you?" Jack cocked his head. "What about you? Are you in love with someone?"

Evan blushed and looked away, smiling a little. "Yeah, I am."

Jack grinned, excitement filling him. "So, tell me. What's his name? Where'd you meet? When do I get to meet him?"

Evan grinned in return. "His name is David. He's a botanist."

More like an exo-botanist, Jack thought, reading between the lines. Where else would Evan meet a botanist but Atlantis? "He's in At--"

"Yes," Evan cut him off. Jack turned to look over his shoulder and saw Ianto, who had, silent as always, come into the hallway.

Jack locked eyes with him.

"Come talk to me, Jack."

Jack nodded and turned back to Evan. "I gotta --" and he gestured towards Ianto.

"Yeah. I'll see you later, ok?"

Jack closed the door behind Evan and followed Ianto into the living room. Once they were seated -- in separate chairs, Jack noted with dismay -- Ianto asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry. I should have. It's just not something you can easily slip into conversation. 'Hey, I have a son and, by the way, he's older than you are.'" He could think of a dozen bits of innuendo to tack onto that sentence, but Jack figured it was wiser not to.

"I suppose you're right," Ianto conceded. "But now that we are talking about it, tell me, Jack, are there any other children you're hiding away?"

That got Jack's back up and he leaned forward. "Ok, first of all," he said, pointing for emphasis, "no. Evan's the only one. Second of all, I wasn't _hiding_ him away. For god's sake, Ianto, you met him last year."

"You just never said he was your son."

Jack threw up his hands and stood. "Well, look at us, Ianto. I can hardly walk around proclaiming, 'This is my son.' Most people think we're brothers and it's only going to get worse. It won't be too many years before they start thinking I'm his son. Not long after that, people will start to wonder if I'm your son." Jack sighed. "Not that we look anything alike."

"Jack."

He knew everything Ianto wasn't saying. "You're mine," he said, fiercely. "You and Evan. I'm going to hold on to both of you for as long as you're around. So just let me, ok? Just let me."

Ianto stood and moved to him, pulling him into his arms. "I'm not going anywhere, Jack."

"Ok," he whispered in Ianto's ear and closed his eyes. "Ok."

~*~

Evan was in his office, working on the requisition forms for the next databurst, when he got the call to report to the gate room. When he got there, Colonel Carter said, "Here he is, sir."

"Major Lorne."

Evan was surprised to hear General O'Neill's voice. "Sir."

"I had an interesting phone call from a Mr. Ianto Jones. I believe you know him?"

"Yes, I do."

"He's a very insistent young man," O'Neill said, admiration evident in his voice. "He 'asked' that you come to Cardiff."

Something was very wrong, that much Evan was sure of; Ianto wouldn't have tried to contact him otherwise. "What's happened, sir?"

"Well, our British friends are claiming it was a series of bombings but that's a cover story. All we really know is Cardiff is a mess. I got the feeling from your Mr. Jones that there were some casualties."

Evan gripped the railing so hard his knuckles turned white. Closing his eyes, he took and deep breath. "Do you know...?"

"No, he didn't actually say anything. But he did ask that you bring a botanist along with you. I'm sure I don't know why." The general paused for moment before continuing briskly, "As of now, Major, you're temporarily assigned to Torchwood. You've got a month. Grab a botanist, get your things, and come on back."

That was more than Evan could have hoped for and he wondered how much O'Neill knew about his relationship with Jack. "Thank you, sir."

Evan was startled when Sheppard clasped his shoulder and steered him into the hallway. "Do you know which botanist you want?"

"Parrish," Evan said immediately; there was no question about that.

Sheppard just nodded and Evan wondered not for the first time if he knew. "I'll clear it with McKay. But first, tell me what I'm going to have to deal with while you're gone."

Six hours later when Evan and David 'gated through to the SGC, the Odyssey beamed them directly into the Hub. Ianto's head lifted immediately from the computer screen he'd been looking at. "You came," he said quietly. "I wasn't sure."

Evan knew Ianto never thought that he wouldn't want to come, just that he might not be allowed to. "You made quite an impression on General O'Neill," Evan said with a smile. "I think he'd try to recruit you if he thought there was a chance you'd accept."

"Ianto, what's going on?" Jack asked, coming down the stairs from his office. He stopped short when he saw them. "Evan? What are you doing here?"

"Ianto called and said you could use some help," Evan said with a shrug, not wanting to make a big deal out of this. It was usually Jack doing the helping, not the other way around.

Jack looked a bit dumbfounded. "You --"

"Jack." Evan walked to him and pulled him into a hug. Jack held on tightly. After a long moment, Evan stepped back and said, "You look like hell. Why don't you let Ianto take you home. David and I can handle things for a while."

Jack didn't even seem to notice that Evan had said David was with him. Things were obviously much worse than Evan had expected. When Jack didn't say anything, Ianto calmly pulled a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket and offered it to Evan. "I've drawn up a list of people who are likely to call and what the response should be."

Evan almost grinned; trust Ianto to have a chart detailing how far to piss off government officials. "I can deal with that and David can..." Evan looked at David, then back to Ianto.

"Perhaps he could take a look at the hothouse?" Evan heard David's excited inhalation. "No one's really looked after the plants since --" Ianto broke off. "And Myfanwy and the weevils will need to be fed."

"Who's Myfanwy?" David asked, attention temporarily diverted from the thought of alien plants.

Ianto pointed up. "Our pterandon."

David's head fell back and he grinned.

Evan looked up, too, and wondered just what exactly the difference between a pteradon and a pteradactyl was because she looked exactly like the ones they'd run into on --

"Just like on P27-X39," David said, obviously thinking of the same mission. "Remember? When Rodriguez --"

"Shrieked," Evan finished with a smirk. Later, Rodriguez had claimed he'd fallen to his knees and covered his head at the first sight of the pterodactyls because his cousin had told him stories about man-eating dinosaurs when he was a kid. None of the Marines had believed him.

"If Gwen comes in," Ianto continued, "tell her --"

The phone started ringing and Evan suddenly realized that there had been no mention of Tosh and Owen. Reason enough for everyone to look so strained but given Jack's state, Evan was sure something else had happened. But finding out what could wait.

As the phone rang again, Evan held up Ianto's list. "Ianto, take Jack home. I got this."

Once it looked like they were going to leave, Evan picked up the phone.

"Who is this?" a voice demanded. Evan could tell it was a politician.

"Who am I? I'm Major Evan Lorne, United States Air Force. I'm on loan to Torchwood. Who are you?"

**Author's Note:**

> For [](http://community.livejournal.com/tw_exchange/profile)[](http://community.livejournal.com/tw_exchange/)**tw_exchange** challenge #4: Characters' Pasts; prompt #17: Jack's lived all through the twentieth century - what if he has a child out there... a grown-up child?  
> Huge thanks to my beta [](http://silver-cyanne.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://silver-cyanne.livejournal.com/)**silver_cyanne**.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Kiss-Bruised Lips](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7585189) by [squidgie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/squidgie/pseuds/squidgie)




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